Description:

Position Summary:
The Office of Corporation Counsel (OCC) provides legal services to the City and County through its three main divisions. First, OCC represents the City, County agencies, and City-County employees in litigation, handling a diverse docket that ranges from tort and contract matters to constitutional law. Second, through its counseling division, OCC provides legal advice to City and County agencies, officials, and oversight bodies to ensure that public entities remain compliant with the law and standards of ethical conduct, to safeguard public funds, and to promote the efficient functioning of local government for Marion County taxpayers. OCC's third division is the Office of the City Prosecutor, which is responsible for enforcing City-County ordinances. OCC also oversees the Office of Equal Opportunity, which administers the City's human rights ordinance, protecting against discrimination in employment and other contexts. In exercising these crucial legal functions, OCC cultivates a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment that prioritizes the needs of our clients and the residents of Indianapolis and Marion County.

The holder of this position will be detailed to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana (USAO) as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA). In that position, the attorney will work exclusively within the Criminal Division of the USAO in Indianapolis and will investigate and prosecute serious violent crimes and/or gun crimes impacting Marion County. The position holder will be a full-time employee of the City of Indianapolis and will report to the Corporation Counsel. Funding for the position is available for up to two years, with the possibility of extension or of an offer of permanent employment in the Office of Corporation Counsel (OCC) or the USAO.

The City of Indianapolis Marion County is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We value diversity in perspectives and experiences among colleagues and the residents of this city of whom we serve.

Position Responsibilities:
Upon designation as a SAUSA (subject to the conditions described below), the position holder will function in the role of a federal prosecutor, whose responsibility is to represent the United States in criminal prosecutions brought in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana. Pursuant to the memorandum of understanding between the City of Indianapolis and the USAO, each position holder will focus exclusively on the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes impacting Marion County. In particular, the attorney's caseload will focus on serious federal violent crimes, repeat violent offenders, violations of federal firearms statutes (particularly the illegal funneling of firearms into the hands of criminals), and unlawful use of the emerging firearms technologies that accelerate the danger of gun violence to the public.

In the role of SAUSA, the position holder will be responsible, under the day-to-day supervision of the USAO's leadership, to pursue federal cases from initial intake and grand jury investigation, through indictment, pretrial litigation, trial, and appeals. SAUSAs will work closely with federal, state, and local investigative agencies to help disrupt the most serious violent criminal threats facing Indianapolis. SAUSAs will advocate extensively, in writing and on their feet, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

While the full support resources of the USAO will be available to the position holder, the SAUSA position entails weighty personal responsibility from the outset of the appointment. SAUSAs will receive extensive training, exposure, and substantive experience in all stages of federal criminal cases—from the investigatory stage through appeal. The USAO will tailor training, mentorship, and development programs to fit the needs of each SAUSA as they join the office, and each SAUSA will be assigned a mentor assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA). SAUSAs will participate in USAO training, including in-house and remote training and trainings required by the Department of Justice. Where available and appropriate, SAUSAs may attend in-person DOJ training at the USAO's expense, including at the Department's National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina.

The position holder will be required to develop and maintain proficiency in the federal rules of criminal procedure, the federal rules of evidence, substantive federal criminal law, and the constitutional and statutory provisions governing the investigation and litigation of criminal matters in the federal system.

The position holder will be held to the same high level of professional responsibility as all USAO and OCC attorneys.

The position holder, as an OCC employee, is accountable to the Corporation Counsel for the performance of his or her duties and is subject to the same terms and conditions of employment as those governing other OCC attorneys. The Corporation Counsel's evaluation of the attorney's performance will be informed by input from the attorney's day-to-day supervisors at the USAO.

The position holder may be required to report on a periodic basis to the Corporation Counsel and may be required to perform other duties as assigned by the Corporation Counsel, to the extent not inconsistent with the position holder's SAUSA responsibilities.

Qualifications:
Minimum Job Requirements and Qualifications

Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school.
Valid license to practice law in Indiana.
Proficiency in legal writing and research.
At least three years' experience in the practice of law as a licensed attorney (may include a judicial clerkship).

Preferred Job Requirements and Qualifications